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… It was certainly an interesting Saturday in Waco. While this Texas Tech team is flawed, like most of its Big 12 counterparts, the Red Raiders played hard and competed against Baylor. If they continue to do this, they’ll end up playing 13 games this season. No doubt.
… I feel like I learned more about Jett Duffey on Saturday than I did last week in Texas Tech’s win over Oklahoma State. He was going up against a better, older Baylor defense and doing so in a loud road environment. Duffey wasn’t perfect, but he competed and never got rattled. His ball, 4:19 left to play, his team trailing and 88 yards away from the end zone. Let’s go. Duffey converted a 3rd and 11 to T.J. Vasher for 12 yards, then hits McLane Mannix for seven yards, then connects with R.J. Turner for 14 yards, goes back to Turner for 17 and completes a 9-yard pass to Vasher before Sarodrick Thompson capped the drive with his touchdown run. That was good stuff from the junior signal caller.
… The botched fumble call was tough to take, but the Red Raiders had several other chances to make a play in that game. It’s just frustrating because Jaylon Hutchings did make a play by recovering that fumble, but it was mistakenly taken away.
… I could be off a bit here – I don’t think I am, though – but I think Kirby Hocutt made the decision to release his statement Sunday, sharing that the Big 12 admitted the call was blown, because the league had no intention of acknowledging that information publicly. Hocutt, in my opinion, wanted to shine a light on the error. You see other Power Five leagues admit mistakes when it comes to officiating, but the Big 12 hasn’t operated like that and wasn’t going to start this weekend. I think Hocutt has a great relationship with Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, but I’m gathering that the Big 12 wasn’t happy with Texas Tech’s athletic director and his Sunday statement. I’m trying to confirm this, but I believe he was reprimanded at some point Sunday evening or early Monday. That could come with a fine, but I’m not sure. That’s really unfortunate, if so. All the Big 12 had to do was say something like, “Hey, they screwed it up. We’re sorry and will learn from it.” But all anyone was going to get, until Hocutt issued his statement, was silence and some private communication to Texas Tech officials over the phone.
… Hocutt’s relationship with Bowlsby will remain good, and just because they have disagreed on how to best handle this situation doesn’t mean they can’t get along moving forward. I would guess a reprimand over this won’t sit well with Hocutt, but he got his point across. It was, I’m guessing, very important for him to be able to tell his staff, football team and fanbase that an error absolutely occurred.
… The botched illegal snap penalty wasn’t the only call that Matt Wells took issue with on Saturday. Dickens and I discussed it some on the Tailgate Express Roundtable on Sunday, but the call on “No. 79” when Evan Rambo picked off Charlie Brewer in the first half was a 30-yard screw-up that hurt the Red Raiders. Baylor’s Casey Phillips wears No. 79 and hit Xavier Benson on an illegal block right in front of the Bears’ sideline and right in front of the same game official that would later call the illegal snap penalty in overtime. I think the officials tried to give Wells and the Red Raiders a make-up call – these aren’t supposed to exist, but they absolutely do – with a really weak wedge formation call on Texas Tech’s next kickoff.
… Wells also had an issue with the in-stadium music being played over the PA system as his quarterback was over the ball late in the first half. That’s not supposed to happen. He had several conversations with game officials about it and they said they would look into it. It was loud. Duffey couldn’t hear on the open end of the field because the speakers were blaring. Those that were there can speak to what I’m referencing here. If I’m Texas Tech, I start doing the same thing because the Sooners also operated in this gray area. It seems like most programs in the Big 12 operate this way and it absolutely has an impact on the opposing quarterback and offense.
… Eastland quarterback Behren Morton is set to announce his commitment this morning and while I cannot say for sure what will happen, I do know the Red Raiders are in really good shape here. I can confirm that Wells talked to Morton yesterday before the Red Raiders’ practice. What they discussed is anyone’s guess at this point. I just know Texas Tech is in a good spot here and it will really sting if Morton doesn’t announce for the Scarlet and Black.
… Flashback to this summer, after one of Texas Tech’s big recruiting weekends in June. I spoke with a source on how the weekend had gone for the Red Raiders and Morton’s name came up during that conversation. I asked what the source thought of Morton, and their response was, “He’s the future of Red Raider football. Period.”
… I know several people that have coached Morton at various camps over the years and they rave about him. His arm, his smarts, his moxy and his size. Total package.
… Here’s an interesting stat on potentially adding Morton this morning. Excluding Texas Tech, he has offers from three in-state Power Five programs – Baylor, Texas A&M and TCU. That’s as many as the Red Raiders’ last nine high school quarterback signees combined. Davis Webb had a TCU offer and Michael Brewer had offers from Texas and Baylor. That’s it. Texas Tech hasn’t beaten out an in-state Power Five program for a signal caller since Webb in the 2013 class. Obviously the program has done OK at that position since then – that Patrick Mahomes guy was alright – but it’s still crazy to think about.
… The very clear theme for this week around the football building is protecting homefield. It won’t be about Baylor and what happened in Waco or about the losing streak to Iowa State. Jones Stadium must be protected. I spoke to multiple people yesterday and every single one of them mentioned this. “This is about two men enter, one man leaves.” Nobody said it with a smile, either. Pissed is a good way to describe the mood.
… I think Thomas Leggett and Ta’Zhawn Henry have a chance to be back this weekend. Des Smith may still be a few weeks away.
… Kudos to Brayden Stringer. It didn’t get discussed much – the officiating incompetence overshadowed a lot – but he did a great job in that first half filling in for Riko Jeffers. I think Keith Patterson ran some four-man fronts to try to protect Stringer a little bit, but Stringer wasn’t a liability at all based on what I saw.
… The Big 12 is still a week to a few weeks away from releasing its 2020 schedule but I think you can count on Texas Tech having a home game on Thanksgiving weekend. I spoke with someone who told me that the opponent wasn’t likely to be Texas or Baylor. That leaves West Virginia, Kansas or Oklahoma. My guess is that it will be the Sooners, but I could be wrong. Either way, look for the Red Raiders to have a home game next year on Friday, Nov. 27 or Saturday, Nov. 28.
… Take away Oklahoma and Kansas, and is there much difference between the Big 12 teams that are left? I’m not sure that there is, and that could ultimately hurt the Sooners’ chances at a CFB Playoff spot. I do think that Texas, with a healthy Sam Ehlinger, is an upper-tier team but the Longhorns’ defense has been bad. I’m just not a buyer on Iowa State or Baylor as legitimate Big 12 contenders. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Red Raiders hand the Cyclones a loss on Saturday, and I’m fairly certain that the Bears will fall to Oklahoma State in Stillwater this weekend. TCU? Nah, next. Who else is there? This could be a problem for Oklahoma, especially since its non-conference games against Houston (2-4) and UCLA (1-5) won’t help them at all.
… Texas Tech’s result Saturday night in El Paso was strange but not all that surprising. This Red Raider team isn’t going to beat anyone with a pulse when Kyler Edwards, Jahmi’us Ramsey, Davide Moretti and Chris Clarke combine to go 10-of-35 from the field. Simple as that.
… I can’t help but think back to last season. Most will forget that it took until early February before Texas Tech really got it going on offense. January was a grind, and there were a lot of people hoping Khavon Moore would be some sort of offensive savior. I guess my point here is that folks should exercise some patience with this 2019-20 team. This will take some time.
… Clarke will be this team’s best player, and he needs to be. He’s experienced, a two-way player and an energy guy. He was 3-of-9 from the field against UTEP but I love the four steals. Clarke will be at or near the top of that category all season long.
… One troublesome stat from the game – and this may not end up being a big deal in time – is that the Red Raiders had zero blocked shots. Tariq Owens will be one of those players that people appreciate more and more for what he did in Lubbock as time goes on. He cleaned up a lot of messes for the Red Raiders on defense by protecting the rim and generating easy offense with some of his blocks. That just isn’t who T.J. Holyfield, Russel Tchewa or Tyreek Smith are as players. They all defend differently, but I’d guess that Smith, if he gets enough minutes, will accumulate some blocks as the season goes along.
… If you start looking around, you’ll notice Ramsey’s name hovering around the first-round of mock drafts for the 2020 and 2021 drafts. The last one I saw, posted this morning on ESPN, had Ramsey as the No. 32 overall pick in the 2021 draft. He could absolutely be a one-and-done here. Prepare for it.
